This invention relates generally to skylight and/or roof opening safety guard rail devices. More particularly, this invention relates to a skylight or roof opening safety guard rail device that may be installed either temporarily or permanently to prevent a person from inadvertently falling through the skylight or opening.
A NIOSH alert bulletin (DHHS(NIOSH) Publication No. 90-100) issued in December 1989 warned that fatal or debilitating falls may result from failure to provide appropriate guarding and fall protection for work around skylights, skylight openings and other roof openings. NIOSH stands for The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health which is the group that determines the causes of accidents and illness for the U.S. Department of Health Administration (OSHA) in efforts to prevent worker deaths and injuries on the job or places of employment. This NIOSH alert bulletin was specifically concerned with preventing worker death and injuries from falls through skylights and roof openings. Recent investigations by NIOSH suggest that many fatal falls involve such openings. The bulletin described eight deaths resulting from falls that occurred during work around these openings.
Existing standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulate the guarding of skylights and other roof openings. Every employer, supervisor and worker in companies where the work may involve exposure to these hazards should comply with these standards.
Occupational fatalities caused by falls remain a serious public health problem throughout the United States. The U.S. Department of Labor lists falls as one of the leading causes of traumatic occupational death, accounting for 8% of all occupational fatalities from trauma (approximately 289 of 3,610 deaths) in 1986. The NIOSH National Traumatic Occupational Fatality (NTOF) data base indicates that during the period 1980-85, falls accounted for nearly 10% (3,491 of 36,210) of all traumatic occupational deaths for which a cause was identified. Of this total, 28 deaths resulted from falls through skylights and 39 deaths resulted from falls through roofs or roof openings. A NIOSH survey in seven States revealed that approximately 22% (14 of 64) of the fatal falls reported to State occupational safety and health officials occurred when workers fell through skylight openings or smoke-vent skylights (translucent plastic domes that serve as both skylights and automatic smoke vents in case of fire). The recent increase in the use of smoke-vent skylights in new construction has increased the exposure of workers to these hazards. Deaths can be prevented by compliance with existing OSHA standards for guarding roof openings and by improvement in the worker's awareness of the hazards involved in working near skylights, skylight openings and other roof openings.
OSHA has promulgated regulations to protect workers from the hazards associated with roof openings (29 CFR 1910 and 1926). The OSHA General Industry Standard requires that "every skylight floor opening and hole shall be guarded by a standard skylight screen or a fixed standard railing on all exposed sides" (29 CFR 1910.23(a)(4)). Requirements for a standard skylight screen are given in 29 CFR 1910.23(e)(8) as follows:
Skylight screens shall be of such construction and mounting that they are capable of withstanding a load of at least 200 pounds applied perpendicularly at any one area on the screen. They shall also be of such construction and mounting that under ordinary loads or impacts, they will not deflect downward sufficiently to break the glass below them"Code of Federal Regulations.
Although current OSHA standards require employees to guard both skylights and roof openings, these standards were being violated in each case reviewed in the bulletin. Employers and workers may believe that the translucent plastic domes on smoke-vent skylights provide an adequate barrier against falls, but many domes do not. Based on the incidents reported, NIOSH concluded that the increased use of skylights in new construction presents a serious hazard to workers in the construction trades.
NIOSH therefore recommended that the following precautions be taken to prevent fatal falls through skylights, skylight openings and other roof openings:
(1) NIOSH urged that all employers and workers strictly adhere to the applicable OSHA regulations.
(2) Railings guarding all skylights and other openings in roofs must be installed before roofing work begins and must remain in place until construction is completed, in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.23 and 1926.500.
(3) As required by current OSHA standards (29 CFR 1926.28(a)) and consistent with accepted safe work practices, employers must provide protection against falls before workers begin any operations that include the potential for serious falls.
To further emphasize the economical and legal ramifications to an employer based on the foregoing discussion, the following case is representative (as reported in the May 24th 1993 issue of "Employment: Safety and Health Guide, Number 1153, page 7" published by Commercial Clearing House, Inc. as reviewed by the OSHA review commission). The summary of the case is as follows:
"Employees fall through skylight was properly addressed by standard for skylight openings. The failure of a roofing contract to guard a skylight was affirmed as .sctn. 1926.500(b)(4) violation in Phoenix Roofing, Inc. (.sctn.30.056). An employee died after falling through the skylight to a concrete floor 26 feet below. The Judge found no merit in the employer's contention that the standard's requirement for guarding the "skylight opening" applied only when there was an actual hole. The standard assumes that workers are in danger of falling through a skylight when there is not a standard railing or cover capable of sustaining a 200 pound person.
Although the employer contended that there was no reason for the employee to be near the skylight, access to the hazard by employees in the course of their work activities was reasonably predictable. Phoenix covered skylight openings with plywood only from the time that an old skylight was removed until a new one was installed. Unpreventable employee misconduct was not established, despite the employer's contention that the employee had been drinking before work, because employees were exposed daily to unguarded openings."
There have been some attempts in the prior art of providing a workable solution to the OSHA requirements. An example of such known prior art is exemplified by a product sold under the tradename "Fallguard" as produced by Plasteco, Inc. of Houston, Tex. This prior art device comprises a pre-rolled/formed steel mesh in an arch shape, which is mounted on specially extruded aluminum rails. However, this prior art product has several shortcomings. First, it is made of two components which must be manufactured to special order. In addition, the product can only be permanently installed and therefore cannot be installed temporarily for work on the roof and then removed. Thirdly, should the skylight or roof opening be of any nonstandard dimension, the prior art will not fit correctly. A final major problem is that any emergency roof repair or the fixing of rooftop equipment requires a flexible temporary guardrail assembly which can be installed at a moments notice, as opposed to the permanent guard assembly of the prior art.
Presently, in view of the aforementioned discussion, there is a need for a light weight, easily installed and removed guardrail assembly that has size flexibility to protect skylights and/or roof openings of varying dimensions. In addition, such a device should be capable of installation by one person. Because of the number of skylights or roof openings that may be present in a particular work area, the device should be economical to produce and to purchase.